In a nail-biting photo finish, it was Jonathan Milan who came out victorious after a thrilling bunch sprint finish on the opening stage of Renewi Tour.
The Renewi Tour often attracts a strong sprint field, but the 2026 edition might just have the strongest sprint line-up of any stage race all year. Dubbed the sprint world championships ahead of the start by Lidl-Trek DS Adriano Baffi, the race lived up to the hype with the opening stage producing a star-studded top-10, with Jonathan Milan on top.
The opening stage started and finished in the town of Diest, and shortly after the race rolled out, the rain began. At first a welcome relief after the dry European summer, it didn’t take long until the peloton was soaked through and wishing for an end to the deluge – which never came.
The race lit up on the final ascent of the Grasbos climb, and as the peloton scrambled to regroup it looked like the early five-man breakaway held the advantage. Lidl-Trek sent riders to the front to reel in the dangerous group, sacrificing a fresh leadout train to ensure the chance to sprint. The Italian champ handled himself well moving into the final few hundred metres, emerging from the slipstream and stomping on the pedals in trademark fashion. A fast challenge came from Olav Kooij, but Jonny was able to hold him off and snatch the win by w husker on the bike throw.
Reaction from the Finish Line 🏁🎤
I was not sure about the sprint until the last second. I started with 200m to go and then when I was there I just said “okay, try to hold it”, but Kooij was coming up super fast. Immediately after the finish line, he was a bit in front of me so I was still unsure about the result, but I am really happy about this victory. It was tough conditions out there but it was also a tough race so a big thanks needs to go to my teammates, they supported me so well. It wasn't easy to stick together, to keep our focus all day and to keep fighting but we made it. I am really happy with how we have started this race.
It was not easy to catch the breakaway. We always kept them there, maximum 2'00" - 2’20” and we knew it would be tough to chase them back and we did it just in the last kilometres. Everyone did an amazing job. The other sprinters here are super strong riders, I really like to compete against them, they always bring out the best of me, and also today you saw it was really close with Olav. He is a super strong rider and we will see what happens tomorrow. We will try again, of course, but first we enjoy this victory.
